The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announce they are expecting their third child

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child, Kensington Palace has announced.

In a statement the palace said the duchess was suffering from severe morning sickness, as she did with her previous pregnancies. As a result a public engagement she had been scheduled to attend later today had been cancelled.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge watch the America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth from a Land Rover BAR boat on July 24, 2016.
Picture: Sarah Standing (161045-5141)

The duchess is the patron of the Portsmouth-based 1851 Trust, the charitable arm of Land Rover BAR, Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team.

The statement said: ‘Their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child.

‘The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news.

‘As with her previous two pregnancies, the Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Princess Charlotte and Prince George on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, in central London on June 11, 2016. Picture by Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

‘Her royal highness will no longer carry out her planned engagement at the Hornsey Road Children’s Centre in London today.

‘The Duchess is being cared for at Kensington Palace.’

Betting on a third child for William and Kate began to take off in the run-up to Charlotte’s christening when the princess was only nine weeks old.

On a royal tour of Poland in July 2017, Kate joked about having a third – after being given a present designed for newborns.

She speculated about the prospect of another child when she was offered a cuddly toy designed to soothe tiny babies during an event for start-up tech companies in Warsaw.

Saying thank you for the present, she turned to the Duke, laughing, and said: ‘We will just have to have more babies.’